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FASHION Week is so last month. March – this week, anyway – is all about art.

Tomorrow, hundreds of gallery owners from around the globe are descending on the Big Apple’s numerous art fairs, where they’ll show works by emerging and established contemporary artists and schmooze with collectors and industry insiders.

And this year, it’s looking like a buyer’s market.

For years these annual gatherings have been huge moneymakers, with hedge-funders and jet-setters tearing through their checkbooks to get their hands on “the next big thing.” But with the economy melting like a Salvador Dali pocket watch, the days of multimillion-dollar sales and hefty commissions are all but gone. Are the fairs’ days numbered, too?

The effects of the financial downturn are already visible locally, with the number of exhibitors at last weekend’s International Artexpo and Works on Paper shows significantly down. Red Dot, which debuted here last year, and Art Now canceled their New York shows altogether, with hopes of returning in 2010.

Other fairs, including Scope, Pulse, Bridge and Fountain, are soldiering on but with scaled-down expectations. “There’s been a leveling-off in the market,” says Pulse director Helen Allen. “The days of artists commanding $15,000 to $20,000 right out of art school are gone.” But this week is make-or-break time for many smaller galleries, who depend on the fairs to showcase new artists. “We’ve taken a beating financially, but skipping the fairs is just not an option,” said one gallery owner who will be exhibiting at Bridge.

The producers of the Armory Show at Pier 94, which anchors this week’s art-a-palooza, aren’t running scared – they’ve more than doubled the number of exhibitors from last year and have added The Armory Modern, a sister show featuring more established artists like Rothko, Basquiat and Hockney, at Pier 92.

“I’m very bullish when it comes to the art market,” says Paul Morris, vice president of MMPI, which operates the Armory Show and other festivals worldwide. “Hard economic times can be a great time to buy affordable art that may grow in value.” Still, he concedes, many galleries are struggling to get their wares to market. “We looked at every option to help dealers, including offering smaller booths and various payment plans.” Of course, there are still plenty of big-ticket items at the pier, including a Miro painting priced at more than $3.7 million.

But will these works sell? Even collectors who emerged unscathed from the Wall Street implosion are tightening their purse strings.

“This isn’t the time to be ostentatious,” says one Armory Show regular. “I might buy a few smaller pieces . . . but you can’t justify spending six figures when you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.” Other insiders think the gravity of the situation hasn’t fully sunk in yet.

“There’s a real disconnect between buyers and sellers,” says Adam Sheffer of Cheim Reade gallery, which has shown at the Armory for the past five years. “Sellers still think it’s 2007. Buyers think it’s like Miami Beach real estate – you can get whatever you want, just make an offer.”

While the flagging economy is bad news for galleries and festival organizers, it’s a boon to art-world novices who may have been intimidated by the fairs’ high price tags and aura of exclusivity. Once considered a major faux pax, negotiating on price is now commonplace.

“It’s a buyer’s market. For those who have the courage, it’s a great time to find a new artist,” says Pulse show’s Allen. “You can take your time and think about the work.”

To court newcomers, many fairs have boosted their programming with additional concerts, lectures and film screenings.

At Scope, “Cheap Fast and Out of Control,” a 2,000-square-foot pop-up store, gives visitors the chance to snap up postcards, prints, record sleeves and other artist-made knickknacks for as little as $10 or $20.

“We’re all on a raft, trying to survive in a tough market,” says Scope founder Alex Hubschman. “But you can’t hibernate. You still need to out there so you’re ready when the economy bounces back.”

The Armory Show: International Fair of New Art; The Armory Modern

Piers 92 and 94, Twelfth Ave. between 52nd and 55th streets;212-645-6440, thearmoryshow.com. Mar 5-7 noon-8pm; Mar 8 noon-7pm. $30 per day, students $10, combination day pass to the Armory Show and Volta $40, four-day pass $60. Shuttle service between the Armory Show and VOLTA runs every 20 minutes.

The grand dame of New York art fairs, the Armory Show has traditionally required galleries to present only works by artists they personally represent. This year, though, exhibitors will be offering blue-chip pieces by the likes of Jean Miro, Robert Motherwell and Louise Nevelson at the Armory Modern at nearby Pier 92. We’re still keen on the main show at Pier 94, though, where works by hot contemporary artists like photographers Ryan McGinley and Marina Abramovic are on view, and artist Christine Hill will dispense unique remedies to visitors suffering from modern ailments at her makeshift apothecary at the Ronald Feldman Fine Arts booth.

Now in its second year, Bridge is the baby of the New York art fairs. “We’re more artist-run, more of a mom-and-pop operation,” says director Michael Workman. “We make our decisions on merit, not trendiness or buzz.” But Workman urges visitors to check out a piece from Edouard Steinhower, a Haitian artist who works with environmental themes. “He’s doing this interactive video sculpture-you sort of lift up this door on this animal, and there’s a video playing.” Bridge has been perhaps been the most inventive in adapting to new economic realities: Through the ARTOUT program, visitors can “buy” artists as conversation partners or escorts to cultural events.

“We bridge the gap between the big blue-chip fairs and young, emerging galleries,” says Helen Allen, who oversees this four-year-old fest featuring 101 galleries from 26 countries. With price tags falling between $1,000 and $35,000, this isn’t the place to find your next dorm-room decoration. The hot buzz is around installation pieces by artists like Marcus Linnenbrink, Penelope Umbrico and Gary Carsley, who plasters Ikea furniture with large-scale landscape monoprints.

If the Armory is the establishment, then Scope is the avant-garde, with works from 50 international galleries personally invited by fair organizers. “We’re often seen as research-and-development for fashion and film,” says fair organizer Alex Hubschman, who says designers Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have come to the Lincoln Center-based expo for inspiration. (Last year, Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong picked up a $20,000 sculpture from artist Morgan Herrin here.) PETA members beware: French-Canadian artist Marc Séguin uses real wolf pelts in his series, i love america and america loves me, and a taxidermied bald eagle dipped in tar in “La Pinata.”

VOLTA New York

7 W 34th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues; ny.voltashow.com. Mar 5-8 1-9pm; $15, combination pass with Armory Show $40. Shuttle service between the Armory Show and VOLTA runs every 20 minutes.

While the rest of the fairs cling to the piers, this Armory Show offshoot takes place in Herald Square and focuses on solo exhibitions, presenting works by 78 emerging artists. This year, the theme this year is “Age of Anxiety,” with galleries displaying Erica Eyres’ disturbing video works, watercolors by goth-rocker Marilyn Manson, and Trong Gia Nguyen’s Colección Whitney, medieval-style stocks that patrons are invited to step into. Too doom-and-gloom? You can always enjoy candy from pastry chef/artist Tara Strickstein, will be passing out candy as part of “Sweet Tooth of the Tiger: Suck-it!” and Imperfect Articles will be selling limited-edition Tees sporting artwork by featured artists.

Billing itself as the “anti-Armory” show, this three-year-old fair will only set you back a fiver and features live installations, graffiti tags, multimedia projects and other edgy works that hearken back to New York’s guerilla-art roots, courtesy of local indie galleries like Glowlab, McCaig-Welles and Leo Kesting. Lending some street cred is DJ Chris, who rocks the opening party on the Frying Pan on March 5. (Random Trivia: The fair is named after the urinal Marcel Duchamp scandalously exhibited at the 1917 Society of Independent Artists fair.)